Australia's social media ban for teens is going, uh, pretty badly
A new report shows that the ban only lowered the number of young teens on TikTok by one percentage point.
Australia's ban on social media for kids under 16 has been a flop, according to a new report. Despite the ban set in place in December 2025, a whopping 26% of children aged 13 to 15 were still using TikTok as of last month, barely a percentage point below the rate before the ban went into effect. The same trend applies to children aged 10 to 12, where use of social media apps has returned to pre-ban levels.
This report, conducted by the parental control software maker Qustodio, suggests that the ban hasn't been effective at all.
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